Reasons Why
by Navy Babe
Summary: You don't have to protect yourself from me.' KateGibbs!


Disclaimer: Will never be mine, I just enjoy playing with them.The song 'Another Day' doesn't belong to me either.  
Rating: T  
Author's Notes: May or may not have a follow up story...depends on how creative I'm feeling. This is really just a random moment that I thought up...hope you enjoy it! It was semi-inspired by the following line from the play Rent.

Dedicated (cuz all the cool kids are doing it) to Mindy, Nikki, and Sammie! My kinda partners in writing crime! Us Kibbs girls have to stick together!

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'Take your brown eyes, your pretty smile, your silhouette, Little girl hey, the door is that way'

'Another Day' Rent

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Gibbs stopped sanding his boat for a moment, stepping back to admire his handiwork. He'd been working on it for awhile now, and he could actually see a lot of progress. Course it helped that he had been coming down here almost every night for the past year.

Working on it helped clear his mind. Helped him think through things. Think about her.

When he had hired Caitlin Todd, he hadn't expected to fall in love. Granted, he was attracted to her, but he thought that he'd eventually get over it, he always did. But he didn't, and before he knew it, Caitlin Todd was occupying pretty damn close to his every thought.

It was…distracting.

He wasn't expecting anyone tonight, so hearing a sound at the top of the stairs startled him. The very subject of his thoughts, peeked her head into his basement, his domain, but didn't take a step inside. "I used that key that you gave me…you weren't answering your door, and I was afraid that…your boat had fallen on you or something." She tried preemptively to soothe the anger she was afraid she'd encounter in her boss.

He set the sander down, with a familiar half smirk, half smile, and waved her down. She cautiously stepped down onto the first step, as if waiting for a trap. He knew that he shouldn't be proud of her for not fully trusting him, but he was. "I don't bite Kate." He called out to her.

She blushed and lowered her eyes to the steps as she continued on her way down. "I just uh…well, I was wondering if uh…you needed me to work the holiday or not. I don't have any plans and I know that you usually go in anyway…" Gibbs raised a curious eyebrow in her direction, not sure who leaked that little piece of information.

She smirked, almost a carbon copy of his own, and shrugged, as if in answer. She reached the bottom of the stairs and was only a foot or so away from his boat, his baby. She reached out tentatively to touch the smooth wood, running her fingers over it. He watched, loving the fact that she was so entranced by his handiwork. "She's beautiful. I can't believe that you did all this." She murmured, looking at him through the skeleton of the boat.

"It takes my mind off of…other things." He said quietly, examining her.

She looked up and offered him a small smile. "Well uh…just wondering if you wanted any help."

Gibbs tilted his head to the side. "Sure Kate. As long as you really don't have any plans. I don't want to force you to give up some of your only vacation time."

She chuckled and nodded. "It's fine with me. Really…don't have anything else to do. I figure that I should maybe get some extra paperwork done so that I don't have to listen to DiNozzo whine as much." She smiled and began to walk towards him. "Do you think…" She looked down, flushed, and shook her head. "Never mind."

"What Kate?" Gibbs asked, in a voice softer than anything that she had ever heard come out of him before. He knew, if he was in his right mind, that he should tell her to go back home. To leave him with his demons, his thoughts of her, and his bottle of Jack. But he seemed to have misplaced that mindset, and now something that was rather unfamiliar with, was left.

"I was just wondering if uh…you'd show me how you do this. I mean, I've heard so much about it, and I was just…curious." She looked up at him briefly and smiled uncertainly.

Without a word, Gibbs nodded and picked up the sander next to him. Kate stepped up to the boat, and Gibbs looked at her a moment before he actually approached her. He wrapped his arms around her and placed the sander on the surface of the board. He lifted up his hands, and she slid hers into place, with his hands closing around hers. He began to guide her, neither of them saying anything, just working together.

His mind began to wander as he felt her body beneath his. She was so small, so fragile, but he knew that if she wanted to, she could take him on. He indulged in the smell that he had come to recognize as Kate, something sweet and flowery that he had yet to figure out the identity to. She tilted her head slightly, and some of her silken brown hair brushed against the skin on his arm.

He knew this was bad. He knew that having her in this close of proximity, to him and his boat (in which he had concocted a multitude of fantasies with, all involving her) couldn't possibly end up good. Her soft, lilting voice broke him out of his train of thought, "I can see why you love this so much. Whatever else you have on your mind just…goes away."

"Yeah." He nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him. He leaned in slightly, almost covering her entire body with his. He felt her breathing speed up slightly, but she didn't move or say anything.

After a few more minutes of silence, her hands slipped out from under his, and before he could move away, she had turned so that she was facing him. Her hands landed on his forearms, holding him in place around her. "Gibbs…" She murmured, "What do you think about down here?"

He paused and licked his suddenly very dry lips. _You. The way that your legs look when you wear that brown skirt I like so much. How many times I've fantasized about taking off that green sweater that you always wear that hugs you in all the right places. Your pretty brown eyes, your smile, the way your body is silhouetted at night at NCIS. That's what I think about Katie-girl, what do you think of that?_ He wasn't quite sure how she'd react to that.

She boldly reached for him, pulling him up against her. "Gibbs." She murmured. He could feel her hot breath on his face, smell the sweet peppermint on it. There was no way that he could get out unscathed. She inched closer to him, standing on her tiptoes until their lips were barely touching.

"Kate…" With most women, the uncertainty in his voice would be enough to drive them away. But Caitlin Todd was not most women.

"Don't lecture me about rule 12, or how romances never work." She reprimanded softly, still lightly touching his lips with hers. "You and I both know that you made that stuff up to protect yourself." She drew back slightly, looking him in the eye. "You don't have to protect yourself from me. I won't hurt you Gibbs."

"But I'll hurt you Katie." He muttered, right before he lowered his head to hers, bringing their lips fully together. She gasped softly and he swallowed it hungrily. He couldn't get enough of her, couldn't satisfy the burning he felt in his gut. He tangled his hands in her hair, tilting her head to the side, and pressed his body into hers. She was everything that he had dreamed of. "I'll hurt you, I'll break your heart. For awhile everything will be fine, but then I'll do something dumb and you'll be hurt. And then you'll leave, and I'll be alone, and I'll have screwed up your life. I don't want to hurt you like that Katie." He murmured against her lips.

She shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to dislodge his hands from her. "Even if that did happen, I'm a big girl Gibbs. I can take care of myself." She placed a gentle kiss at the hollow of his throat. He groaned at the feeling of her soft lips against his rough skin. "I've worked with bastards for most of my life Gibbs. I've developed a pretty thick skin." She looked up at him, an almost innocent trust in her eyes.

"Kate…" He murmured, leaning down to kiss her again. Just one more taste, and he'd tell her to leave. No matter what she said, he didn't want her to become a bitter and angry woman, like he had watched his wives turn into. He didn't want that for someone like Caitlin Todd. His tongue pried its way into her mouth, and began exploring her relentlessly. Teeth and tongue meshed and she began making a soft seductive noise in the back of her throat. Just one more taste… "You should leave." He muttered, breaking away from her.

Kate's eyes opened slowly, and she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "What?" Gibbs stepped away from her, and went over to the table where he threw all his things. Kate pushed herself away from the boat, and followed him. "You can't just kiss me like that and then tell me to go away Gibbs." She placed a soft hand on his back. "I want this. I know what I'm doing…do you think that I would have come here if I didn't?"

"You're young Kate. You think that you can change me, that if we get involved I'll suddenly become this new man. I won't. There are three women out there that can tell you." He growled. He knew that if she didn't leave, he might just give in. "You don't want to be stuck with a man like me Kate. You deserve so much better."

"I might." She tilted her head to the side, as if willing him to turn around and look at her. "But it doesn't matter, because I want you. And I wouldn't want to change you Gibbs, why would you even think that? I fell in love with a bastard…just something that I have to deal with." She said, a soft smile on her face.

He turned around, shaking his head. "I'll forget your birthday."

"I do too sometimes." She said, squaring herself for another round.

"I'll forget our anniversaries." He took a step closer to her.

"Doesn't matter. Never was one for the candlelit dinners and endearments anyway." She replied, her smile starting to grow as she too, took a step towards him.

His hand wrapped around her waist and he pulled her body against his. "I can't give you the moon Kate. I can't give you what you deserve."

She shook her head and chuckled softly to herself. "But you can give me what I need. What I want." She gently kissed him, but moved back quickly. "I don't want the moon Gibbs. What on earth would I do with it?"

He laughed as he watched her eyes twinkle. "Katie, you're 18 years younger than I am."

"Age ain't nothing but a number Gibbs." She smirked.

"Do you have a comeback for everything?" He asked, chuckling.

"I have to…when you spar with DiNozzo you have to be quick on your feet." She grinned cheekily. "Besides," She turned serious. "I've thought about all the arguments before." She raised a hand and laid it against his cheek. "None of it matters Gibbs. Our age, NCIS, your past, my past…there's something between us. It's been there since Air Force One, and you know it."

"I do." He said quietly, leaning his forehead against hers. "Are you sure about this Katie?"

She laughed. "Gibbs I swear to God if you ask me that again, I will walk out that door. You want that?" He smiled and shook his head. "But I should probably leave…Abby invited me over for a girl's night, and she'll grill me endlessly if I'm late."

Gibbs nodded, and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned down and gently kissed her, trying to express all the feelings that he couldn't quite say yet, through the contact of their lips. She smiled up at him as they broke apart, and carefully extricated from his embrace. She started towards the steps, when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. She laughed as he lightly kissed her once more. "Gibbs, c'mon I have to go."

"Come back tonight. Don't go home, come back to me." He murmured against her lips. She looked up at him, shock in her eyes.

"Really?" He just nodded, and waited for her answer. She smiled and tilted her head to the side playfully. "Okay. I'll be back in a few hours."

He pulled her in for one last quick kiss. "Looking forward to it Katie-girl." He murmured against her lips. With that, he let her go. She started up the stairs, and when she reached the top, she turned back and gave him a little wave.

Gibbs smiled and turned back to his boat. He swore that he could still smell her perfume in the spot where she was standing.

"Oh Jethro…" He chuckled to himself. "You do have it bad, don't you?"


End file.
